Best Movies The Best Movies That Are Super Long

List Rules Vote up the best movies that run 2 hr 20 min (140 minutes) or longer

Hollywood movies typically run about 1.5 to 2 hours. The patented three act structure unfolds onscreen and the credits roll before backs begin to ache and minds begin to wonder. But sometimes two hours is not enough and this list has them all. These are the best movies that are super long.

All the films on this list run at least 2 hours and 20 minutes. Most of them are even longer than that and some of them are twice as long as the average movie. Why would a filmmaker keep someone glued to the screen for over three hours with a really long movie? Not every great movie is packaged with a simple beginning, middle, and an end. Epic stories need to percolate and their characters need more room to develop.

Imagine The Godfather without the legendary opening wedding scene. That sequence alone lasts over thirty minutes, and it has very little to do with moving the story forward. Instead, it’s basically thirty minutes of director Francis Ford Coppola introducing the audience to the Corleone family.

Several films on this list run over three hours. Think that’s too long? Check out their Rotten Tomatoes scores - every single one of them received an outstanding rating. When a person sees Schindler’s List or Lawrence of Arabia for the first time, they do not walk away from the experience worried that they’ve spent too long looking at a movie screen. Sure, some movies with long running times could afford a clip or two in the editing room. But you won’t find any of those movies on this list.

These good films warrant and demand your full attention, no matter how long they are. Be sure to upvote for your favorite long movies to watch, those with an epic runtime.

list ordered by

1

937 187

Running Time: 2 hr. 41 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92% Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 American epic drama war film set during the Invasion of Normandy in World War II. Directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat, the film is notable for ...more

2

1,143 198

Running Time: 2 hr. 22 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 72% Forrest Gump is a 1994 American epic romantic-comedy-drama film based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis and stars Tom Hanks, Robin ...more

3

610 375

Running Time: 2 hr. 55 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 99% The Godfather is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by Albert S. Ruddy from a screenplay by Mario Puzo and Coppola. Starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino as ...more

4

569 394

Running Time: 2 hr. 26 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96% Goodfellas is a 1990 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is a film adaptation of the 1986 non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scorsese. ...more

5

433 269

Running Time: 3 hr. 20 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97% The Godfather Part II is a 1974 American epic crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a screenplay co-written with Mario Puzo, starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. ...more

6

500 77

Running Time: 3 hr. 9 min.

Rotton Tomatoes Score: 80% The Green Mile is a 1999 American fantasy drama film directed by Frank Darabont and adapted from the 1996 Stephen King novel of the same name. The film is told in a flashback format and stars ...more

7

574 370

Running Time: 2 hr. 34 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93% Pulp Fiction is a 1994 American black comedy thriller film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, from a story by Tarantino and Roger Avary. The film is known for its eclectic dialogue, ...more

8

511 275

Running Time: 3 hr. 16 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96% Schindler's List is a 1993 American epic historical period drama, directed and co-produced by Steven Spielberg and scripted by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the novel Schindler's Ark by Thomas ...more

9

746 416

Running Time: 2 hr. 22 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91% The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 American drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont and starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. Adapted from the Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and ...more

10

407 313

Running Time: 2 hr. 32 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91% The Departed is a 2006 American crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan. It is a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs. The film takes place in ...more

11

304 160

Running Time: 3 hr. 6 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97% The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a 1966 Italian epic Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone, starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach. The screenplay was written by Age ...more

12

487 255

Running Time: 3 hr. 2 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 78% Braveheart is a 1995 epic historical medieval war drama film directed by and starring Mel Gibson. Gibson portrays William Wallace, a 13th-century Scottish warrior who led the Scots in the First ...more

14

636 427

Running Time: 3 hr. 14 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88% Titanic is a 1997 American epic romantic disaster drama film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of what happened to the RMS Titanic, it stars ...more

15

314 249

Running Time: 2 hr. 33 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 99% Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American epic adventure war film set during the Vietnam War. Produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, and Robert Duvall. ...more

16

423 247

Running Time: 3 hr. 42 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94% Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American epic historical romance film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel. It was produced by David O. Selznick of Selznick International ...more

17

656 357

Running Time: 3 hr. 21 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 95% The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic fantasy drama film directed by Peter Jackson based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. It is ...more

18

546 301

Running Time: 3 hr. 48 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98% The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is a 2001 epic fantasy film directed by Peter Jackson based on the first volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. It is the first ...more

19

596 343

Running Time: 3 hr.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96% The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is a 2002 epic fantasy film directed by Peter Jackson and based on the second volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings. It is the second ...more

20

391 291

Running Time: 2 hr. 28 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86% Inception is a 2010 science fiction thriller film written, produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan. The film stars a large ensemble cast that includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Joseph ...more

21

381 225

Running Time: 2 hr. 50 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83% Scarface is a 1983 American crime drama film directed by Brian De Palma and written by Oliver Stone. A remake of the 1932 film of the same name, Scarface tells the story of Cuban refugee Tony ...more

22

358 228

Running Time: 3 hr. 2 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 80% Casino is a 1995 American drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Nicholas Pileggi, who also co-wrote the screenplay for the film with ...more

24

330 220

Running Time: 2 hr. 45 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88% Django Unchained is a 2012 American revisionist Western film directed by Quentin Tarantino. With the help of a German bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz), a freed slave (Jamie Foxx) sets out to ...more

25

143 68

slaft added The Sound of MusicJulie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker The Sound of Music is a 1965 American musical drama film produced and directed by Robert Wise and starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The film is an adaptation of the 1959 Broadway ...more

26

123 59

slaft added The Ten CommandmentsCharlton Heston, Vincent Price, Yul Brynner The Ten Commandments is a 1956 American religious epic film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille, shot in VistaVision, and released by Paramount Pictures. It dramatizes the biblical story ...more

27

418 261

Running Time: 2 hr 23 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92% Marvel's The Avengers is a 2012 American superhero film directed by Joss Whedon, based on the Marvel Comics superhero team. Earth's mightiest heroes must come together and learn to fight as a ...more

28

113 62

slaft added Ben HurCharlton Heston Ben Hur is a 2003 animated film based on the novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, by Lew Wallace. It is the fourth film adaptation of the novel. Charlton Heston's production company, Agamemnon ...more

30

75 18

Running Time: 2 hr. 59 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 77% The Wolf of Wall Street is a 2013 American biographical black comedy film directed by Martin Scorsese. The screenplay by Terence Winter is adapted from the eponymous memoir by Jordan Belfort and ...more

31

231 178

Running Time: 3 hr. 9 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85% JFK is a 1991 American historical legal-conspiracy thriller film directed by Oliver Stone. It examines the events leading to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and subsequent ...more

32

195 197

Running Time: 3 hr. 3 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93% The Deer Hunter is a 1978 American epic drama film co-written and directed by Michael Cimino about a trio of Russian American steelworkers and their service in Vietnam. The film stars Robert De ...more

33

185 229

Running Time: 2 hr. 38 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91% There Will Be Blood is a 2007 American epic drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano. The film was inspired by Upton Sinclair's novel ...more

34

102 70

Running Time: 3 hr. 36 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 99% Lawrence of Arabia is a 1962 British epic adventure drama film based on the life of T. E. Lawrence. It was directed by David Lean and produced by Sam Spiegel. The film stars Peter O'Toole in the ...more

35

213 185

Running Time: 2 hr. 51 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86% Heat is a 1995 American crime thriller film written, produced and directed by Michael Mann, and starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Val Kilmer. The film was released in the United States on ...more

36

97 39

kgimport added Terminator 2: Judgment DayArnold Schwarzenegger, Edward Furlong, Linda Hamilton Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a 1991 American science fiction action thriller film written, produced and directed by James Cameron. The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert ...more

37

140 203

Running Time: 2 hr. 24 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 89% Once Upon a Time in America is a 1984 Italian epic drama film co-written and directed by Sergio Leone and starring Robert De Niro and James Woods. It chronicles the lives of Jewish ghetto youths ...more

38

229 219

Running Time: 2 hr. 35 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92% Boogie Nights is a 1997 American drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. It is set in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley and focuses on a young nightclub dishwasher, Eddie Adams, ...more

39

74 56

slaft added The Bridge on the River KwaiAlec Guinness, William Holden, Jack Hawkins The Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 WWII epic film directed by David Lean, based on the novel Le Pont de la Rivière Kwai by Pierre Boulle. The film is a work of fiction but borrows the ...more

40

78 61

slaft added Legends of the FallBrad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Julia Ormond Legends of the Fall is a 1994 American epic drama film directed by Edward Zwick and starring Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Aidan Quinn, Julia Ormond, and Henry Thomas. Based on the 1979 novella of ...more

41

65 52

slaft added Doctor ZhivagoOmar Sharif, Julie Christie, Alec Guinness Doctor Zhivago is a British-American 1965 epic dramaromance film directed by David Lean, starring Omar Sharif and Julie Christie. It is set in Russia between the years prior to WWI, and is ...more

43

164 200

Running Time: 2 hr. 28 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96% The Pianist is a 2002 historical drama film co-produced and directed by Roman Polanski, scripted by Ronald Harwood, and starring Adrien Brody. It is based on the autobiographical book The ...more

44

43 53

slaft added GettysburgMartin Sheen, Tom Berenger, Sam Elliott Gettysburg is a 1993 epic film written and directed by Ronald F. Maxwell, adapted from the novel The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, about the Battle of Gettysburg. The film starred Tom ...more

45

117 70

Running Time: 2 hr. 53 min.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93% The Great Escape is a 1963 American WWII epic film based on an escape by British and Commonwealth POW from a German POW camp during WWII, starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, and Richard ...more

46

46 49

RobLein added The Right StuffJeff Goldblum, Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid The Right Stuff is a 1983 American drama film that was adapted from Tom Wolfe's best-selling 1979 book of the same name about the Navy, Marine and Air Force test pilots who were involved in ...more

47

33 53

slaft added Judgment at NurembergJudy Garland, William Shatner, Marlene Dietrich Judgment at Nuremberg is a 1961 American drama film dealing with the Holocaust and with the post-WWII geo-political complexity of the Nuremberg Trials. The picture was written by Abby Mann and ...more

50

21 61

RobLein added GiantElizabeth Taylor, James Dean, Dennis Hopper Giant is a 1956 American drama film, directed by George Stevens from a screenplay adapted by Fred Guiol and Ivan Moffat from the novel by Edna Ferber. The film stars Elizabeth Taylor, Rock ...more

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List Rules: Vote up the best movies that run 2 hr 20 min (140 minutes) or longer